European investors, the Belgian federal government, and some wealthy Belgian business families have raised 275 million euros for sustainable food and agricultural technology.
Among the investors in the new Adstanor Ventures are some major Belgian business families, reports the Flemish newspaper De Tijd.
Belgian investors contributed a quarter of the money; between 60 and 70 million euros. These investors include the Toye family (holding Diepensteyn) and the Colruyt family (investment company Korys), the Colruyt group, and Belfius Insurance. The Adriaenssen-de Spoelberch family and the Belgian federal government also put money on the table.
All the investors have an affinity with food and/or agriculture and support the sustainable ambitions of the new fund. For example, the Colruyt family has been one of the main players in the wind energy sector for many years. Astanor Ventures has previously made several investments, including one in Aphea.Bio, which focuses on bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides.
Astanor focuses on companies active in four themes: health, climate change, less polluted oceans, and food quality. Astanor aims at European and American tech start-ups focusing on healthy nutrition and will invest 1 to 15 million euros per dossier.
‘The footprint of the food and agriculture sector is enormous,’ says Astanor partner Hendrik Van Asbroeck. ‘This leads to rising greenhouse gas emissions, scarcity of raw materials, waste, chronic diseases, and a loss in quantity and quality. We must ensure that people have access to affordable healthy food. The corona crisis has demonstrated the vulnerability of our food chain,’ according to the new investment fund for sustainable food production.